Saint Rose Hosts Gubernatorial Debate

Saint Rose Hosts Gubernatorial Debate

The first topic up for discussion was diversifying the upstate economy. Molinaro affirmed that “upstate New york needs to be treated with more respect.” Both Hawkins and Miner want to invest in infrastructure, with Hawkins focusing on clean energy and mass transit. He plans to tax the rich to give more funding to the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). Sharpe had an opposing approach.

“Every time you hear ‘invest’ it means ‘more taxes.’ My ideas won’t raise taxes,” Sharpe said. He continued on, saying that he will not put more money into the MTA because “they suck.”

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By Briana Spina

All but one of the candidates for governor of New York gathered for a debate at the Lally School of Education on Thursday, Nov. 1. The event was sponsored by The League of Women Voters, and it was live streamed on the League’s social media. Laura Ladd Bierman, the executive director of the NYS League of Women Voters, moderated the evening. She began by advising the candidates to “consider the debate as a discussion of ideas” rather than an opportunity to attack their opponents.

“Spend time talking about how you will make New York better,” she said.

The candidates included the following: Howie Hawkins of the Green Party, Stephanie Miner of the Serve America Movement (SAM), Marc Molinaro of the Republican/ Reform/ Conservative Parties, and Larry Sharpe of the Libertarian Party. Governor Andrew Cuomo of the Democratic Party did not attend the debate.

The first topic up for discussion was diversifying the upstate economy. Molinaro affirmed that “upstate New york needs to be treated with more respect.” Both Hawkins and Miner want to invest in infrastructure, with Hawkins focusing on clean energy and mass transit. He plans to tax the rich to give more funding to the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). Sharpe had an opposing approach.

“Every time you hear ‘invest’ it means ‘more taxes.’ My ideas won’t raise taxes,” Sharpe said. He continued on, saying that he will not put more money into the MTA because “they suck.”

Sharpe is a proponent of bringing in big companies, like Google and Apple, to build infrastructure; this way, the financial burden is lifted off taxpayers. Molinaro assured that any taxes spent will “get results.” Miner focused less on where the money would come from and instead talked about how economic parity between upstate and downstate is not practical.

“We need to look at the needs that our regions have,” she said. “I’ll work with local communities to see what they need.”

The discussion moved on to issues of social justice. When discussing the #MeToo movement, Miner emphasized the importance of “stand[ing] with victims and expos[ing] the culture” which allows sexual harassment to continue. Though Sharpe affirmed the “innocent until proven guilty” stance, he also said “we can’t just punish; our goal should be to stop the behavior.”

Molinaro stated that Albany has been a “cesspool of bad behavior without accountability,” but he used binary phrasing to express his support of victims, falling into the trope that it is cisgender women who are victims and cisgender men who are the perpetrators. Hawkins, on the other hand, made a point to acknowledge people who do not fall on either side of the gender spectrum.

“We need to broaden the definition of what harassment is because it doesn’t cover those of nonbinary status,” he said.

More on LGBTQ+ rights, Sharpe said that “law is not enough. We have to change the culture, so we’re not just checking [diversity] boxes.” Molinaro promised that if the Trump administration scales back protections, the NYS government would step in.

Next, the panel discussed gun safety. On the issue of red flag gun laws, which gives police the right to take away a person’s firearms if that person has been deemed a danger to themself or others, Miner expressed her conditional support.

“I support red flag laws as long as due process is first and foremost… We need to bring everyone around the table and ask ‘how can we take guns out of the hands of the mentally unstable, suicidal, and violent?’”

Further on mental health, Molinaro said that “we should be ashamed of the dismantling of mental health in our state.” Hawkins brought up that “more veterans die from suicide than in war.”

Referring back to the red flag laws, Sharpe said “Veterans don’t get help [for their mental health] because they don’t want to get their firearms taken away.” No plan was mentioned for how to fix this.

The discussion of education began with the Excelsior Scholarship. Miner described it as “a great press release,” but beneficial to very few. Sharpe had a stronger criticism of the program, dubbing it “a disaster.” The solution Molinaro proposed was for both SUNY and private institutions to reduce tuition. The takeaway for Hawkins was to make education accessible to “every person of every age.”

In the K-12 realm, Molinaro and Sharpe both mentioned their support for vocational training. Sharpe proposed an end to standardized tests before the high school level and to send students to preparatory schools or vocational schools after 10th grade.

The other three candidates talked about the various inequalities within and between schools. Miner brought up the gap between the rich and the poor students, and Hawkins brought up racism. Molinaro spoke in depth about the “separate and unequal” treatment of special education students.

“It’s a violation of civil rights,” he said. “[We must] combat the prejudice that doesn’t let special needs students to get the support they need.”

Molinaro supports school choice while simultaneously supporting commitment to public schools. Hawkins opposes charter schools, saying that they are “more about business than education,” which allows them to “push out students with special needs and behavioral problems.”

Young people continued to be the subject of discussion as the candidates talked about young voters. They all mentioned the need to respect the young people and to make voting easier.

The last subject of the debate was drinking water.

“What the state has allowed to happen in Hoosick Falls and Newburgh is criminal,” Molinaro said. “We must hold the polluters accountable.”

Miner called it an example of “the state government running away from its constituents.” To help the environment, Hawkins pledged “100 percent clean energy by 2030.”

The candidates each had two minutes to give a closing statement. Sharpe spoke first.

“The Democrats are failing and the Republicans are watching,” Sharpe said. “They don’t have plans, but I do. I don’t have a career or party to protect.” He ended by saying that as governor, he would “ make a new New York.”

Molinaro went next, also emphasizing the need for New York to “start again” because of corruption. He said “I believe in ordinary New Yorkers” as opposed to the rich and powerful ones.